'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the game's lost great two decades on.

All Paul Hunter truly desired to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him secure six major trophies in six years.

Now marks two decades since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who were close to him endure as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a million years Paul would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter says.

"Yet he just loved it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a child.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He competed every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'A Sporting Icon'.

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have been the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas fell sharply.

"The goal was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled."

While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, starts later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his accomplishments, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.